Is First Trust NASDAQ Oil & Gas ETF (FTXN) a Strong ETF Right Now?

FTXN is a smart beta ETF providing exposure to US oil and gas companies with $970.56 million in assets. It tracks the Nasdaq US Smart Oil & Gas Index with a 0.60% expense ratio and 1.84% dividend yield. The fund returned 41.33% overall and 38.71% year-to-date as of October 2026, with top holdings including ConocoPhillips, Chevron, and ExxonMobil. However, cheaper alternatives like VDE (0.09% expense ratio) and XLE (0.08% expense ratio) offer lower-cost market-cap weighted energy exposure.